This invention relates to an apparatus and method of printing on demand, binding and trimming a perfect bound soft cover book. Typically, such soft cover perfect bound books comprise a stacked plurality of text pages (referred to as a book block) having one edge which is referred to as the spine. The cover is of a suitable cover stock that is generally thicker (heavier) than the text pages comprising the book block. The cover has a front portion that overlies the front of the book block, a back portion that overlies the back of the book block, and a center portion spanning across the spine of the book block. A suitable adhesive is applied between the spine of the book block and the inside face of the center portion of the cover. The spine of the book block (i.e., the edges of the text pages along one edge of the book block) is imbedded in the adhesive which, upon curing, securely adheres the pages of the book block to one another and to the center portion of the cover, thereby permitting the book to be opened to any page without the pages coming loose.
In high volume production processes for manufacturing such perfect bound books, the pages of each book block are usually jogged by specially developed machines prior to the application of adhesive so as to insure that the edges of the pages are properly aligned with one another. The adhesive, typically a suitable hot melt adhesive, is then applied to the spine of the book block. The cover, which is usually pre-printed, is then folded around the front, spine, and back of the book block and is firmly clamped to the book block proximate the spine during assembly. In this manner, the adhesive is firmly pressed between the spine of the book block and the inner face of the center portion of the cover to properly adhere the cover to the book block while simultaneously adhering the pages to one another.
Typically, such perfect bound books are printed on pages that are somewhat larger than the desired size (i.e., the length and width) of the finished and bound book to be produced. These books, after they are bound, are typically trimmed along three sides to the desired final dimension in a separate trimming machine. Heretofore, such operations were carried out in separate machines that required considerable adjustment to bind books of different sizes and thus were best suited for production runs of many books. In addition, both prior art binding machines and trimming machines were very expensive.
In recent years, book printing has undergone changes as computer technology and laser printers have advanced. This new technology now allows for machines capable printing perfect bound books “on-demand”. Such on-demand printed books come in a variety of formats and thicknesses (i.e., the number of pages in the book). Thus, there is a need for an economical printing and binding apparatus and system which is sufficiently flexible to allow on-demand printed books of varying size and thickness (at least within a limited range) to be bound and trimmed, even if books of different formats (size) and thickness must be bound one at a time (i.e., with production binding runs consisting of a single book copy). There is a further need for such a printing and binding apparatus and system where such printing and binding operations are fully automated such that a store clerk or attendant need merely to select a prepared data file stored on a computer and send the file to the automated printing and binding apparatus. Thus, the printing and binding apparatus would then generate the printed pages of the book block and the cover of the book, adhere the cover to the book block, and then trim the same. There is yet a further need for such an apparatus and system that is capable of producing various sizes and formats of perfect bound books without the need for undue experimentation or adjustment of the apparatus to produce such different size books.